Unsecure chicken perches

[hilda-and-evadne]

Seem to have been a bit unlucky. A batch of six eggs hatched out four chicks last Wednesday. One chick died on Sunday, another today. That leaves two, one of which is much smaller than the other and less active.

 

I didn't expect to lose so many after the first 72 hours, and it has been an upsetting experience. (I hatched some eggs from Wernlas last summer, and the ones that hatched out all survived to date.) I worry now that the small one may die, too, leaving the one that seems to be thriving. If that happened, would you buy in a couple of day-old chicks to keep it company? Do you know of any near to where I live, in London SE7?

 

I have ordered six more eggs from a different hatchery, to try to avoid the situation where I might be introducing a lone hen to the existing flock (if one of the two remaining chicks turns out to be a cockerell). But it would of course be another three weeks before they could provide company for the earlier chick(s), and I would have to partition the brooder box (I guess) until the younger ones caught up a bit in size.

 

Grateful for any suggestions.

[Redwing]

hmmm tricky one

 

I'd be tempted to find more young chicks locally but only after ruling out disease in the remaining chicks, some chicks just dont thrive but coccidiosis is a possibility in your case

 

Failing that chicks are generally very tolerant of each other so once the new chicks are eating and drinking you could add the three weeker to them with very little trouble

[craftyhunnypie]

I've had a single silkie chick - now nearly 8 weeks old. Her sibling died. I worried about finding her a fellow chick as a friend, but she has thrived without the need for a friend. Her friends are us. She is super tame - due to lots of handling on a daily basis. Her other friend is a little teddy bear. She also loves her budgie mirror, as she looks at it all the time - thinking there are other chicklets.

I will be introducing her to her mummy & daddy soon. Her mummy is super broody at the moment - so she may even think she's hatched her. Daddy is an absolute love - always has been the most gentle cockerel I've ever had.

 

So don't worry too much about a single chick.

Emma.x

[hilda-and-evadne]

Thank you, Redwing and crafthunnypie, that does help with knowing what to do next.

 

One of the two remaining chicks died overnight. At the moment, the last chick is eating and drinking, getting larger and moving around normally. I have put a ball of knitting wool into the brooder box to keep it company. Fingers crossed now. Losing so many in just five days has been a shock; I really didn't expect this.

[hilda-and-evadne]

Came back just to note that the FlytesoFancy web site says that birds under three weeks old are seldom infected with coccidiosis

 

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/Coccidiosis_in_Chickens.html

 

and I haven't seen any blood in their poo.

 

I will try to buy a budgie mirror today - that's a good idea, thanks.

 

So sad.

[Redwing]

I'm shocked by that write-up, Coccidiosis is genrally accepted to be one of the main causes of chick death.

 

Blood in poop isnt always present, there are many different types of Cocci

 

Its worth checking that the chick crumb is in date as out of date crumb can cause chicks to fade

 

Failing that they could have just been unthrifty indicating problems in the parent stock

 

Chick mortality rates are usually not high, I think you have been really unlucky, dont let this put you off

[hilda-and-evadne]

Its worth checking that the chick crumb is in date as out of date crumb can cause chicks to fade

 

Thank you - the chick crumb is well within its use-by date - I always check the date on the side of poultry feed before paying for it. Years ago, I once lost a hamster to mouldy food - still feel bad about it, although it was in the days before use-by dates had to be printed on the packaging so I couldn't have known.

 

The budgie mirror is a big success! The chick is eating and drinking and exploring: I just hope that it will thrive until I can give it some real chick companions.

[Duncan08]

Good Luck!

Hope he/she does OK

[Gloss-Hen]

I've had a single silkie chick - now nearly 8 weeks old. Her sibling died. I worried about finding her a fellow chick as a friend, but she has thrived without the need for a friend. Her friends are us. She is super tame - due to lots of handling on a daily basis. Her other friend is a little teddy bear. She also loves her budgie mirror, as she looks at it all the time - thinking there are other chicklets.

I will be introducing her to her mummy & daddy soon. Her mummy is super broody at the moment - so she may even think she's hatched her. Daddy is an absolute love - always has been the most gentle cockerel I've ever had.

 

So don't worry too much about a single chick.

Emma.x

 

I have a 3 day old single silkie chick they are really friendly and her friend is a toy chick